Consisting of a moist vanilla cupcake filled with strawberry jam and topped with a creamy peanut butter buttercream, these strawberry peanut butter cupcakes are a modern twist on the classic PB & Jelly sandwich.
I have no shame in admitting that I still enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwich from time to time. It was one of my favorite snacks to have growing up. Now as an adult, there is something just so nostalgic about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that makes it the perfect comfort food. Inspired to create a dessert version of this classic treat, I came up with these strawberry peanut butter cupcakes. The combination of a moist vanilla cupcake, perfectly sweet strawberry jam, and creamy peanut butter buttercream make for the most scrumptious treat that both kids and adults will love.
How to Make Strawberry Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Vanilla Cupcakes
Key Ingredients
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Unsalted Butter
- Neutral Flavored Oil – i.e. Vegetable/Grapeseed Oil
- Lemon Juice/Vinegar (Apple Cider/White)
- Vanilla Extract
How To Make Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat – oven to 350F (180C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk – in a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. In a standard measuring cup/small bowl, add the milk and vinegar/lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
- Cream – in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer, cream butter, oil and sugar together at medium speed (4 on stand mixer) until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow in appearance, about 3-4 minutes.
- Beat – eggs into batter one at time. Each egg should be fully incorporated into batter before the next egg is added.
- Mix – reduce mixer speed to low (2 on stand mixer). In an alternating fashion, mix in half of the dry ingredients into batter, followed by the milk mixture and vanilla extract, and ending with the remaining dry ingredients. Stop mixer and with a flexible spatula, scrape the sides and base of bowl to catch any unmixed ingredients. Mix batter for additional minute.
- Bake – divide vanilla cupcake batter into prepared pan and bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through bake time.
- Cool – allow vanilla cupcakes to cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
Key Ingredients
- Powdered Sugar – sifted
- Unsalted Butter
- Peanut Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Heavy Cream
- Salt
How To Make Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Cream – in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and salt at medium speed until smooth, thick and fluffy about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix – reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add and mix the sifted powdered sugar into creamed butter mixture.
- Add – and mix heavy cream into peanut butter buttercream one tablespoon at a time followed by all of the vanilla extract. Stop mixer and use a flexible spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of mixing bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and resume mixing peanut butter buttercream until thick and fluffy, about 1- 2 minutes.
Bring it All Together – Strawberry Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Transfer – peanut butter buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with your desired pastry tip. I used an 8B Wilton pastry tip. Place filled pastry bag in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Core – the center out of cooled vanilla cupcakes. I used this tool.
- Fill – a pastry bag with homemade or store-bought strawberry jam. I used this store-bought strawberry jam. Re-fill with more jam as needed.
- Pipe – strawberry jam into the center of cored vanilla cupcakes. Next, pipe peanut butter buttercream on top of filled cupcakes in a swirl design. See this video for reference.
- Sprinkle – finely chopped peanuts over piped peanut butter buttercream.
- Pipe – a small amount of strawberry jam over peanut butter buttercream and top with halved fresh strawberry (optional).
- Refrigerate – strawberry peanut butter cupcakes until ready to serve.
Make Ahead Instructions for Strawberry Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Vanilla Cupcakes – maybe made in advance. For next day use, place vanilla cupcakes in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator. For long-term use, individually wrap vanilla cupcakes with plastic wrap, divide cupcakes between two large dated Ziplock bags and store in freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to use, thaw out in the refrigerator overnight.
- Peanut Butter Buttercream – maybe made in advance, placed in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks. When ready to use, leave out at room temperature for 15-30 minutes and re-whip to fluff back up before using.
Looking for More Cupcakes/Cake Recipes, See the Links Below:
PrintStrawberry Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Consisting of a moist vanilla cupcake filled with strawberry jam and topped with a creamy peanut butter buttercream, these strawberry peanut butter cupcakes are a modern twist on the classic PB & Jelly sandwich.
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 16
- Total Time: 1 hour 16 minutes
- Yield: 12 Cupcakes 1x
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 Cups (188 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup (100 g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1/2 Cup (125 ml ) Milk, Dairy/Non-Dairy
- 1/4 Cup (2 oz) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Neutral Oil i.e. Vegetable/Grapeseed Oil
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice/Vinegar (Apple Cider/White)
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- 2 Cups (220 g) Powdered Sugar, Sifted
- 1 Cup (8 oz) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 Cup (8 oz) Peanut Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Assembly
- Strawberry Jam, Homemade/Store-Bought
- 1/4 Cup (32 g) Roasted Peanuts, Finely Chopped
- Fresh Strawberries, halved, Optional
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. In a standard measuring cup/small bowl, add the milk and vinegar/lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer, cream butter, oil and sugar together at medium speed until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow in appearance, about 3-4 minutes.
- Beat eggs into batter one at time. Each egg should be fully incorporated into batter before the next egg is added.
- Reduce mixer speed to low. In an alternating fashion, mix in half of the dry ingredients into batter, followed by the milk mixture and vanilla extract, and ending with the remaining dry ingredients.
- Stop mixer and with a flexible spatula, scrape the sides and base of bowl to catch any unmixed ingredients. Mix vanilla cupcake batter for an additional minute.
- Divide vanilla cupcake batter into prepared pan and bake batter for 15-16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through bake time.
- Allow vanilla cupcakes to cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and salt at medium speed until smooth, thick and fluffy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add and mix the sifted powdered sugar into creamed butter mixture.
- Add and mix heavy cream into peanut butter buttercream one tablespoon at a time followed by all of the vanilla extract.
- Stop mixer and use a flexible spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of mixing bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and resume mixing peanut butter buttercream until thick and fluffy, about 1- 2 minutes.
Assembly
- Transfer peanut butter buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with your desired pastry tip. I used a 8B Wilton pastry tip. Place filled pastry bag in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Core the center out of cooled vanilla cupcakes. I used this tool.
- Fill a pastry bag with homemade or store-bought strawberry jam. I used this store-bought strawberry jam. Re-fill with more jam as needed.
- Pipe strawberry jam into the center of cored vanilla cupcakes. Next, pipe peanut butter buttercream on top of filled cupcakes in a swirl design. See this video for reference.
- Sprinkle finely chopped peanuts over piped peanut butter buttercream.
- Pipe a small amount of strawberry jam over peanut butter buttercream and top with halved fresh strawberry (optional).
- Refrigerate strawberry peanut butter cupcakes until ready to serve.
Notes
- Strawberry peanut butter cupcakes are best eaten the day it is prepared and should be kept refrigerated until ready to serve.
- If adding fresh strawberries on cupcakes (optional), this should be done before strawberry peanut butter cupcakes are served. If not serving cupcakes right away, keep strawberry peanut butter cupcakes refrigerated and when ready to serve, add the fresh halved strawberries on top. This will prevent juices from strawberries from dripping onto to buttercream frosting especially if strawberries are really juice.
- To help equally divide vanilla cupcake batter into prepared pan, I use a large cookie/ice cream scooper. This will allow for more uniform cupcakes.
- I used strawberry jam but some other great options would be blackberry, blueberry of raspberry jam.
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